Discover the Best Books Written by James Bollich

Born into a large family, James Bollich grew up on a rice farm near Eunice, Louisiana. He credits his disciplined farm upbringing and the patience and endurance he learned during the Depression era as reasons for his survival during World War II.

He graduated from St. Edmund High School in Eunice and studied engineering at the University of Southern Louisiana for three semesters before joining the Army Air Corps in 1940. He was stationed in the Philippines when war broke out with Japan and, before the surrender in April 1942, was named warrant officer, a promotion Bollich knew nothing of until he read newspaper clippings about it decades later.

One of the few survivors of the Japanese torture and imprisonment, he wrote about his experiences in Bataan Death March: A Soldier's Story. The book reveals the U.S. troops' three years of hardship, including starvation, pneumonia, and torture. It is a story that many people are unaware of, because the government requested that the ex-POWs not tell their story when they returned.

After the war, the author continued his education at University of Southwestern Louisiana and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to do geological research at the University of Queensland, Australia. He is an active member of the Acadiana Writers Guild, and he has traveled to more than thirty countries. Bollich was most recently awarded the Daughters of the Revolution Medal of Honor, which recognizes a United States citizen who has shown outstanding leadership, trustworthiness, service, and patriotism.

A retired geologist, Bollich is a life member of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Military Order of the Purple Heart, and a member of the 27th Bombardment Squadron. A father of two and grandfather of five, he lives with his wife, Celia, in Lafayette, Louisiana.